Final Dawn
by carolina.aggie
Summary: One mission is race against the clock to save a close set of friends, and make new ones along the way.
1. Chapter 1

**FINAL DAWN**

This is my first story and I hope you enjoy it. Please read & review as I enjoy CONSTRUCTIVE criticism. This work is set approximately 5 years after Nemesis. I hope to update one to two chapters a week. All characters except ones I will specifically mention as well as the Star Trek name and theme are owned by Paramount. And remember this is science FICTION.

Assumptions: USS Titan is a Sovereign class vessel. That Data was resurrected by wiping out Lore's complete memory and using him and B4's downloaded memory ingrams to create a clone. The Romulans have just signed a non-aggression/peace treaty with the Federation.

**Chapter 1**

Captain's Ready Room USS Titan

"Captain Riker we have a incoming message from Starfleet" the communicator beeped. "Send it through." Riker replied.

"Admiral Nitosh how good to see you"

"Good to see you Riker. Its good to see you back from the Romulus."

"Yes its always good to have friends as you push deeper into space."

Admiral Nitosh suddenly got very serious. "Riker I called to order you to rendevous with the Enterprise at these coordinates. There you are to wait for Code 9Z9."

Riker suddenly got serious too. "Yes sir. Is there anything else?"

"No, but good luck."

"Thank You. Riker out."

Riker leaned back in his seat. A Code 9Z9 was something that Riker never heard of until he became the captain of the Titan. It meant that information was so sensitive that even highly coded subspace channels could not be used, so a ship actually brought the information to the captain. If Riker's hunch was correct this was going to be an extremely dangerous mission if two ships were being called. Also why the Enterprise. Captain Picard was due to retire in three months and take over as the head of Starfleet Academy.

Now even more worried he expected Deanna to be coming in here in a matter of seconds. As if on cue she entered his ready room and even without her telepathy could see something was wrong by the look on his face.

"What's wrong?"

"I can't tell you right now, but we have to get going."

"Where?" Deanna asked, realizing it was classified information that had worried her husband.

"To rendevous with the Enterprise."

Riker got up, took his wives hand and went onto the bridge.

"Lieutenant Shar, ship announcement. "To all crew and families of the Titan we have been given new orders. I cannot say where we are going right now but I know I can count on your proffesionalism. Also there will be no more outside communication either outgoing in incoming until further notice. Thank You for your continued service. Red Alert! Ensiegn Rosk make course to rendevous with the Enterprise at 160 Mk 2."

"Course laid in sir."

"Warp 9, engage."

Observation Lounge, USS Enterprise

Captain Picard had the same reaction as his former first officer. This isn't any regular mission he thought, and now he had just informed his senior staff about something he did not even know about.

"That's all." Geordi asked.

"Yes, but I want every singe one of you to start working to make sure every area of the ship is in perfect working order. I don't know what we will be doing, but there should be no surprises from this ships systems failing."

"The Titan should be here in two hours and 47 minutes" Data said.

"Any word on how long we will be waiting for this message?" Worf asked.

"No, but I would think it won't be long. So, if that is all dismissed."

Picard knew that the code went far deeper than just information control. The code 9Z9 was also a prelude to being ordered to the nearest starbase and offloading all non-essential personnel and taking on supplies for an extended mission. In other words it was a possible suicide mission.

Bridge USS Enterprise

Data was carrying out his duties getting the ship ready for an extended mission. As first officer it was his job to make sure the ship was in excellent shape.

Although Data had been back for over a year now he still wondered why he was here. Three years ago a group of cyberneticists including Dr. T'Oral, Data's sponsor since he was recovered by Starfleet, had used the memory ingrams Data had downloaded into B4 to reconstruct Data from his evil brother Lore. As it turned out after the Borg incident with Lore, when Lore was shot he activated a program that completely erased his personality. In other words he committed suicide. It took a little over a year for Data to ever wake up and another six months for him to recover and relearn what had been damaged. And although Data was grateful to be alive he still questioned his ability to function at the expense of his now non-existent brother. Geordi would say that Data is now more reserved and quiet, prefering to spend his free time alone. What was also hard for Data was that he had no recolection of the Shinzon incident. Dr. T'Oral had thought that the overlapping pathways in B4's memory would be to confusing for Data to be downloaded.

"Captain Titan is 15 minutes out." Data radioed to Picard.

"10-4 I'll be there in a minute."

"Prepare for transporter crossover" Data ordered. Since both ships shields were up they would have to link their transporters so they could beam each other over.

15 minutes later the Titan came cruising in.

"Good to see you Will." Picard remarked to his old friend

"Nice to see you too Captain."

"Beam over Will they are coming here."

"Understood. Riker out."

State Room USS Enterprise

10 minutes later Picard and Riker were sitting in the most secure room on board. Every ship had a small room dedicated for secure conversations that were to be monitored by no one. Entry requires a full biometric scan, and there were no computers allowed in the room. Even the personal communicators worn by everyone had to be left outside. The room was nothing more than a metal box near the warp core.

"Any idea what this is about Captain" Riker asked. Although Picard had told Riker numerous times to call him Jean-Luc he still wouldn't.

"No but if I am right we will know soon enough."

"I just hope it doesn't have to do with the rumors of the sectarian violence in the Gamma Quadrant."

The doorway opened, and Admiral Janeway walked in the room.

"Good Afternoon Captains"

"Hello Admiral" Riker and Picard replied in unison.

"I have brought our orders."

Both Picard and Riker produced their Captain's key to unlock the case that held the orders.

Admiral Janeway gave each Captain a folder with the mission information.

Admiral Janeway began speaking "First, I am taking operation command of this mission and will have my staff and quarters here on the Enterprise. Second, we were chosen for this mission because my expertise in the region of space we might be going through and also your close bond makes you perfect to work together on this mission, as well as your superior service records."

"In 2215 a Vulcan emmissary gave the newly formed Federation a specialized one of a kind crystal that was capable of producing enough power for the entire planet. The Vulcan's had been using such a crystal for years but had decided to bestow it upon the Federation as a gesture of good will. A young lieutenant studied the properties of the crystal and learned that it could very easily be turned into a powerful weapon. He decided the technology was to dangerous to leave in the hands of any race. He stole the crystal and disappeared."

"Two weeks ago there was an partial subspace message received by Starbase 563. They calculated the origin to be the far side of the Delta Quadrant. The message was as follows "United Federation of Planets, static, Lieutenant Cyprus reports that Tulrelian Crystal, static, output still 100, static, end message" Our mission is go and retrieve the crystal possible and return it to Vulcan. We are also authorized to destroy it if nessecary."

"How are we supposed to get to the far side of the Delta Quadrant?" Riker asked. Picard gave a cautious smile to that always liking Will's direct approach.

"I have brought new equipment with me that will allow us to use the Borg's transwarp conduits to propell us that far."

"Admiral why all the secrecy, what haven't you told us?" Picard repplied.

"Captains, the crystal supplies the Vulcan planets core with the natural energy to keep the planet spinning. For the last 180 years they have been able to use synthetic energy to compensate, but now the minor imperfections with the synthetic energy are causing sever shear stress to the planets core. Unless we return the crystal to Vulcan the planet will explode in a approximatley two years."

Now the captains understood the extreem secrecy of the mission. And the Federation was correct, if Vulcan is in danger than it is worth major sacrifice to save it. Even if it meant confrontation with the deadly Borg.

"Gentleman we are to proceed to DS9 and disembark all nonessential personell. Crew with families may put in for a transfer and they will be replaced. After our supplies and new equipment is installed we will disembark and lock down all communications. Then you may inform your staff and crew as you see fit."

"What other equipment is going to be installed besides the new transwarp system." Riker asked.

"Something from your past Captain the Pegasus cloaking device. It has been worked on and perfected by our engineers in the event we would ever need it, and before you ask both the Klingon High Council and the Romulan praetor have approved its usage for this mission only."

Nethier Riker nor Picard were pleased with this information. The Federation had agreed not to pursue cloaking technology, and furthermore the cloaking device was extreemly powerful having the ability to allow a ship to pass though ordinary matter.

"If that is all we should get underway."

"Yes mam." both Captains replied in unison.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

DS9 Near the Bajoran Wormhole

The look on Riker's face showed that he wasn't any more happy than the Picard was. It had been a week since they had received their orders but it would be two more days until they could inform their crews. Sure the equipment installation and the upgrading of the warp drive had taken place without incident. Also the DS9 crew had been very gracious and discreet by providing for the needs of both the Titan and Enterprise crews. However, the crew transfers had not gone quite as smoothly. Most of the transferred people were new to the starships and had obvious qualms about a highly secretive mission. This fact combined with two others made the commanders nervous.

First of all Admiral Janeway had been recalled to Starfleet Command. Second was the lack of clarification on their orders. Sure they were to retrieve the crystal and bring it to Vulcan, but why all of a sudden were they going deep into the outer galaxy to try and find it. Yes, Vulcan was in danger , but when Picard had asked Janeway about what research had been done to see if the planet could be saved without the crystal retrieval she brushed him off saying that all research avenues had been exhausted. When Riker pushed further by asking for this research so that it could help them better understand the crystals properties the Janeway ordered them both to drop it and let it go. Two days later the Admiral was recalled and Picard was placed in command as the senior officer.

So what do you think Will?

I think that Starfleet knows a lot more than they are telling us.

That is usually the case, but on a mission this important I cannot see why we are not given every advantage. Vulcan's survival is of the upmost importance, but why can we not have access to information that may save our lives.

I have been working on that. I have a Starfleet computer expert on board the Titan, with A-1 security clearance, and I gave him undocumented orders to hack into the Federation memory bank and retrieve all the information that he could find.

Very clever Will, but will he have enough time to get the information before we leave.

Maybe, but I told him that we are leaving on schedule no matter what.

Keep me posted of whatever information you come across.

I will Captain.

Two hours later: Bridge USS Enterprise

"Captain we are ready to leave. Titan is standing by." Data said.

"Very well, Lt. Halsek take us along side the Titan and prepare to go through the wormhole."

"Yes sir"

"We are in position sir, Titan is ready." Data said.

"Full impulse power, engage"

In brilliant explosion of color the Enterprise the Titan entered the wormhole and seconds later were 40,000 light-years away on the other side of it.

"Make course 277 Mark 5, Warp 9 engage" Picard ordered.

"Yes sir" the helmsman replied.

Captains ready room USS Enterprise

"Data come in here please" Picard beeped.

"Right away Captain"

"Data I want to thank you for not asking the obvious questions that I know everyone is asking, but I have been under orders to keep silent until we arrive near our destination."

"Captain the crew is curious but is behind you."

"I know and appreciate that fact so that is why I am disobeying my orders and letting the crew know now what the mission is. I want you to call a meeting of the senior staff in the lounge in 30 minutes."

"Yes Captain. Should I also tell Commander Worf to secure the room."

"Yes"

After Data left, Picard appreciated Data even more than he did before the Shinzon incident. Sure it was an incredible surprise for Picard to learn that Data had been proverbially "raised from the dead" but he could almost now sence Data's consciousness. He and Data had become quite close since Data had returned, and Picard hoped eventually even the positronic relays that harbored Data's cloned memories would eventually heal.

On the Titan Riker had just had a similar conversation with Deanna and his first officer, Commander Barrak. The conversation had went well and they had both agreed that it was better to break orders early and tell the crew the mission. Riker had specifically asked for Commander Barak as his first officer. Barrak was once a Captain of a Galaxy class starship but was demoted for going against Starfleet command. He had destroyed a Cardassian ship carrying weapons into the demilitarized zone. Starfleet said he had overstepped his bounds and removed him from command. He was headed for exile on Dana 2 when Riker personally asked him to be first officer on the Titan. Barrak was grateful and pleased to be back on a starship, and Riker was both pleased and surprised on how well he shifted from being in command to being a subordinate.

A/N Sorry it took so long to update but it was my birthday this week. I hope to post Ch. 3 before Monday but maybe it will be Tuesday night. Thanks for the reviews Zara08 and Tayababy. Please R&R. Bye.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Captains Quarters USS Titan, 5 hours from the transwarp conduit

Deanna gazed upon her husband as he lay there dreaming. Ever since they were married she had naturally awakened an hour early and just watched Will sleep. Sometimes she would get a since of what he was dreaming about but mostly she would use her telepathic impulses to feel his heartbeat and every breath.

This morning was different. In approximately 5 hours they would be using a piece of technology used by their deadliest enemy to travel to the other side of the galaxy to search for a mysterious crystal that had incredible power. However, that is not what worried Deanna the most, and she suspected it was also what didn't worry Will or Captain Picard. When they had been briefed aboard the Enterprise everyone in the room, the Enterprise and Titan officers, had seen the look on Guinan's face. (Guinan had been the Enterprise's ship's counselor for over two years by Picard's special request.) When Picard asked her if she knew anything about the crystal, she replied that all she knew was legend. She delved into what she was told about the crystal by her grandfather over 400 years ago.

"The legend is that the crystal was taken from the heart of the Crystalline Entity by a powerful group of warriors known as the Daka. It was carried by their prince Fulsa to there homeland 2000 years ago. These warriors worshiped the crystal for its ability to cure any illness whether mental or physical by simply touching it. Soon the Daka disappeared for unknown reasons. The crystal was then lost and found its way to Vulcan after the Romulan/ Vulcan split. The Vulcans found a way to use its mystical power to help purge their race of emotion. It is rumored that the crystal in the right peoples hands could purge the galaxy of war and keep peace."

Guinan was unable to reveal anything more, but her explanation made her previous look seem credible. Anything with this much power could be deadly in the wrong hands. And so that is why they continued on into the unknown looking for the crystal and not turning around to Starfleet demanding answers.

"Good Morning" Riker said to his distant eyed wife.

"Good Morning" Deanna replied back

"So what's for breakfast."

"We could die in five hours and all you can think about is food."

"Yes" Riker replied simply, and rolled over to get his five minute wake up nap.

Deanna slapped him on his head and got out of bed.

"Since it might be our last meal I'll make you that artery clogging breakfast and I'll have my chocolate, chocolate sundae."

"Sounds good."

Will's artery clogger involved sausage gravy, biscuits, country ham steak, eggs and hashbrowns.

"So you don't seem to be very worried." Deanna said.

"What's there to worry about? We wouldn't be going unless Captain Picard had a pretty good idea we wouldn't die."

"Good point."

As they ate breakfast Will brought up the schedule.

"When we get to the conduit we will prescan for any Borg technology. After that we will enter the conduit and Enterprise will follow 20 minutes later. When we exit we will proceed to the coordinates from the message."

"What if we run into the Borg."

"We shoot first, shoot to kill. Our orders were very clear Deanna, any means necessary, including violation of the prime directive if absolutely needed."

"I understand."

"Lets go."

And with that statement they left their quarters to go to the bridge.

Bridge USS Enterprise

"Captain Picard we will be at the conduit in 15 minutes."

"Thank you Data, I am on my way."

The only peace Picard could feel on this mission was that none of the residual Borg implants in his brain were giving him any indication of Borg presence. Of course that could be a mixed blessing; if he at least heard the Borg he would know how to avoid them.

"Lieutenant please take us three kilometers from the entrance." Picard ordered.

"Titan is ready and waiting Captain." said Data.

"Alright Will we will be 20 minutes behind you from the moment you enter the conduit."

"Yes Captain we will be waiting for you."

"Geordi, are we ready to go." Data asked?

"We're ready. The computer is set to flash the warp field coils the second we enter." Geordi replied from his bridge station.

By flashing the field coils as they entered the conduit they would speed up and exit anywhere from two to three hundred light years from the entrance.

Very intently Picard gazed at the view screen watching the Titan approach the conduit.

Then in a brilliant flash the Titan was gone.

"Twenty minutes to Showtime Data." Picard remarked.

"Showtime Captain?"

"Its just an expression Data that is sometimes used when about to embark on a crazy adventure."

"The mission does not fall into the definition of craziness."

"But it does fall into the category of an adventure." Guinan commented from her bridge chair.

"Lieutenant take us into position and prepare to engage full impulse at my command"

"Ready Captain standing by."

"Engage"

Suddenly the Enterprise was pulled forward into the conduit and was being propelled at transwarp velocity.

Ten minutes later they suddenly were ejected and as they brought their sensors back online.

"Enterprise this is the Battleship Gatton do not attempt to arm weapons or raise shields or you will be destroyed."


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Bridge USS Titan

Riker was annoyed. He had received the same message 36 hours earlier as the Enterprise had. All Deanna could tell him was that they meant business and had every intention of carrying out their threat. What was worse is that their tactical analysis showed they were easily capable of destroying both the Titan and Enterprise before they could get a shot off.

Their viewer showed a large ship about 1600 meters long, 100 meters wide, and 35 meters thick. About 3/4 of the way down the hull two large wing like structures protruded out fitted with large warp like nacelles. The weapons analysis had shown 10 rail launch torpedo bays (8 forward, 2 aft), 20 concussion missile launchers, a powerful coupling phaser bank, and 16 mini high energy weapons stations. This was all protected by allantium armor plating, primary and secondary phase coupled shields. To put it mildly it made the Scimitar look like a tricycle.

"Captain message from Captain Picard"

"Put it through."

"Will have you been able to pick up anything else."

"No new data since our last conversation. Its almost as if these people want us to sweat."

"Lets be patient if we don't here something soon we will try and break the ice."

"Understood, Riker out."

Bridge USS Enterprise

Data was confused. In the lull of waiting for a response from the Gatton, he had been going over their primary orders over and over again in his mind. He still could not reason why a world of major political and strategic importance had not been taken care of with greater care. Obviously the Vulcan's must have known that the synthetic energy would start to degrade their planet, and that it would be almost impossible to retrieve the crystal. Also why did Starfleet's story completely differ from Guinan's. True Guinan's story was a legend, but in a race where they live hundreds of years, even this legend should have some truth to it. Data's only conclusion was that Starfleet wanted this crystal for some other purpose. It wouldn't be the first time that Starfleet had less than ethical motives in mind.

"Incoming message from the Battleship Gatton Captain."

"On screen Mr. Worf."

They were faced with a tall human male dressed in what appeared to be fatigues.

"Good morning, I am Captain Monnet of the Battleship Gatton, Galactic Rim Alliance."

"I am Jean-Luc Picard of the Federation starship USS Enterprise."

"Greetings Captain, sorry about the wait, but we had to make sure that you were not with the Borg. We keep a constant eye on the exit of that conduit to make sure that the Borg do not try and slip through."

"Understood Captain there is no love lost between the Borg and us either."

"If I may ask what is your business out here. You are very far away from home."

Here's crunch time Picard thought.

"We are on a mission in search of an ancient relic that was detected in this area of the galaxy."

Captain Monnet smiled. "The Tulrelian crystal is history Captain Picard. It has been lost for over 100 years."

If you would have hit everyone on the Enterprise with a sledgehammer they wouldn't have looked more shocked.

Captain Picard decided to abandon being subtle. "How did you know?"

Captain Monnet smiled again. "The Galactic Rim Alliance figured someone from the Federation would come and look for it someday. Would you like me to come aboard your ship and discuss our knowledge of the crystal."

"That would be very kind Captain."

"I'll fly over in about 30 minutes. You'll have to forgive us, but we generally only use transporters for freight."

"Understood Captain that will be fine."

A/N: Sorry it took awhile to update. I appreciate all the reviews. Please keep them coming. Yes the Titan is still alive and kicking. Will and Deanna will be in the next chapter. My next chapter should be along soon. If there are any story related questions I will try and work them in over the next couple of chapters, so let me know. Thanks.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

Shuttle Bay 1 USS Enterprise

"Enterprise, This is Captain Monnet in Crystal 3 requesting approach clearance."

"Crystal 3, clearance granted, stand by for tractor beam."

"Enterprise you have control"

The small shuttle approached the shuttle bay and landed. The door opened and Captain Monet exited alone with another tall man.

"Captain Monet I am Jean-Luc Picard."

"It is a pleasure to meet you Captain. May I introduce my intelligence officer Captain Rogers."

"Captain" Rogers acknowledged.

"This is my first officer Commander Data and the Captain of the Titan Captain Will Riker and his first officer Commander Barak."

"Pleasure to meet you all."

"If you'll come with us we can sit in our briefing room."

Observation lounge USS Enterprise

The lounge was quite packed with officers from both the Titan and the Enterprise. Captain Rogers started the briefing.

"Approximately two hundred years ago the first evidence of the Tulrelian crystal showed up in our sector. First I will go over what we know as fact and then the legend and theories. Fact one is that the crystal emits a highly concentrated form of gravimetric radiation that acts on the sub-molecular level of neural pathways. This was determined by multiple first hand accounts and autopsies performed on cryopreserved bodies of people known to have been in contact with the crystal. It is true that Lt. Cyprus brought the crystal hear after stumbling upon a transwarp conduit sometime after our First Borg War. He sought our governments help in destroying the crystal for good. He said that the crystal made any telepath a superpower capable of controlling anything or anyone making them virtually invincible. As we have no telepaths in our sector we agreed that the phenomenon was just to dangerous to have around. So the government under the strictest codes of secrecy decided to destroy the crystal by placing it in the Magnesian Belt and setting off a chain reaction in the belt to crush it under the large amounts of static energy present. Unfortunately the Borg picked up the crystals emissions while it went through the conduit and decided to capture it for themselves. The Borg sent twenty cubes to destroy our planet and nearly succeeded. It is not known what became of the crystal after that. After the cubes were destroyed by our ships nobody knew where the crystal was."

"The three best guesses are that the crystal made it off the planet undetected and is hidden in the Magnesian Belt. Second, the Borg did happen to steal it and it is at Unimatrix Zero.

"And the third?" Riker asked

Monet and Rogers looked at each other, Monet spoke up "The third possibility is that it was ejected out of the galaxy to unknown coordinates."

"Do you have any idea why The Federation would want the crystal back." Picard interjected.

"No, but if I were you Captain I would find out."

"I know"

"Lieutenant Eneik" Riker responded

"Gentleman this is our computer intelligence expert Lieutenant Eneik What have you found out Lieutenant." Riker asked.

"Berill's orbit is decaying. All I could find out is that it must have happened during the assault on Betazed during the Dominion war. The crystal is needed to recorrect the orbit by placing it inside the planet core. The Federation hopes that this will encase the crystal, and allow it to stabilize both planets orbits."

"Oh no" Deanna exclaimed.

" What is it?" Captain Monet asked.

Picard explained, "Berill is the peace loving neighbor of Betazed. Betazoids are telepaths while the Berillians are not. However the Berillians possess a unique power of being able to control physical state so there is no sickness there. They are considered the best doctors and humanitarians in the galaxy."

"You seemed to think that the crystal is outside the galaxy." Riker said.

"It is a possibility. There is some evidence that our black ops team got it off the planet before the Borg cubes came. The leader of this team was a rebel named Cypher. He claimed to know exactly where the crystal is and also how to retrieve it without being detected." Rogers said.

"You don't believe it." Picard asked.

"Cypher died in prison for trying to steal plutonium from a laboratory, but I don't think he was lying. He had the highest success rate of any black ops leader in the history of our race, 97 out of 98 missions were confirmed successes. The only stain was the crystal, so I tend to lead credence to his story." Monet replied.

"Did he leave any clues as to where it was?" Picard asked.

"His grandson claims to have the secret to retrieving the crystal but is lacking in the funds and equipment. Our government thinks it is best to leave it alone." Monet said.

"Where is he?" Riker inquired.

"He is a freighter captain out of Tulius 3. You should be able to get there in about 33 hours. This is the off season so check a bar called The Junkyard in the northern hemisphere." Rogers answered. "Also this place is rough so I would go in there with the attitude of "I'll shoot first and ask questions later."

"You seem to know a lot about him." Deanna offered.

"He's my brother." Rogers replied sorrowfully.

**A/N: Sorry its been so long, but I have been sort of dissapointed with this story. I'll try to wrap it up in 3 or 4 chapters. Please R & R. **

**P.S. Look for "The Voyager Project" after this story is done. Details to follow.**


End file.
